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- The Decline of the Arab Caliphate, with its fall in 1258, and the
disruptions of the Mongolian Empires caused a shift in world power.
- China stepped up to the plate early, but was soon followed by Western
Europe.
- Western Europe initiated many internal changes first, with Italy, Spain,
and Portugal leading the way.
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- 1200: Middle East is dominated by two major empires, Byzantine and
Islamic Caliphate.
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- By 1400, the Byzantine Empire was in decline (with the help of Ottoman
Turks).
- Constantinople falls in 1453 to the Turks.
- 1258: Fall of the last Arab Caliphate (Abbasid)
- The fall of Islamic Caliphate did NOT delete Islam, nor its empires
from the maps of the world.
- Trade was disrupted, but will rebound by 1400
- The Ottoman Turks will reestablish much of the power lost by the
Caliphate in the 1500s-1700s.
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- The Mongols were of the first to
develop an alternative Global framework.
- Soon after, China would repel the Mongols, leading to a brief era of
Chinese expansionism.
- 1368: Ming Dynasty (lasts until 1644)
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- Ming rulers secure China, pushing Mongols to the North.
- Forced tribute payments from Korea, Vietnam, and Tibet.
- Early 1400’s: Huge trading expeditions to Southern Asia and beyond.
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- 1405-1433: Admiral Zhenghe, a Chinese Muslim eunuch.
- Led expeditions that hugged Asian coastline
- 28,000 armed troops aboard
- Improved compass, and better maps
- Goods for trade
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- Zhenghe’s expeditions were called off in 1433.
- Resented by Confucian bureaucracy
- Unacceptable costs (especially when fighting the Mongols, and building
a new capital city in Beijing)
- Rooted in China’s history of emphasizing internal development, keeping
commercial development at bay.
- China squanders the opportunity, but internally becomes stronger as a
result.
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- Where was the west around 1400?
- The Church (dominant institution of the Middle Ages) was under attack.
- 1215: Magna Carta
- Medieval Philosophy…not so creative
- Warrior aristocrats…not as warrior-like
- By 1300, population outpaced food supply…causes famine
- No new food supply techniques were discovered.
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- The Black Plague (or, Bubonic Plague):
- Reduces Chinese population by 30% by 1400.
- Follows trade routes from India to the Middle East
- 1348-1375: Europe’s worst episode, killing 30 Million people, roughly
1/3 of Europe.
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- How did the West achieve dominance?
- Strengthening of Feudal Monarchy
- Hundred Years’ War (Britain and France) stimulated Military technology
- Central power of governments increase
- Christians drove Muslims out of Spain and Portugal
- Growth of cities spurs urban economies centered on commercial
capitalism.
- Technology continued to expand
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- How else, then, did the West achieve dominance?
- Mongol domination of Asia in the 13th and early 14th
centuries opened up Asian technology to the Westerners.
- Printing press
- Compass
- Gunpowder
- Ever since the Crusades, Europeans had a greater desire for Asian made
goods, resulting in an unfavorable balance of trade, causing a Gold
Famine that threatened the European economy.
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- The rise of the Ottoman’s also led to increased fear over a Muslim surge
in power.
- Search for new ways around the newly-developing Muslim Empire
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- 1400’s: Italy, cultural and political movement known as rebirth, or the
Renaissance
- Stressed more secular subjects
- Realistic portrayals of people and nature
- Why Italy?
- Connection to Ancient Rome
- 14th Century: Led the West in Banking and trade
- Healthy commercial practices gave the money to be able to support
cultural activities.
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- A Cultural Movement
- Practical ethics, urban codes of behavior
- Art and Music flourish
- Themes include nature and people
- Architecture moves from Gothic to Classical
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- Little influence outside of Italy
- Focused on high culture, not popular culture
- Minimal interest in Science
- Not a FULL-break from Medievalism
- Although, Italian commerce proved to be a building block of European
power.
- The “Renaissance spirit” spurred innovation.
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- Christian leaders had been pushing back Muslim forces for years.
- After 1400 regional monarchies had been established in the provinces of
Castile and Aragon, united in Marriage in 1469.
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- Spanish and Portuguese formed a unified agenda for the expulsion of the
Muslims, continued by the marriage of Ferdinand and Isabella
- Effective armies with cavalry
- Government should promote Christianity through conversion.
- Close links between Church and State
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- Early ventures were inhibited by technological barriers.
- Efforts were underway to improve these technologies through Arab
contacts, who learned from the Chinese.
- Mapmaking improved
- 1498: Vasco de Gama was the first European to reach India by sea.
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- Prince Henry of Portugal (Prince Henry the Navigator) was a driving
force in making the colonies Spain and Portugal already had, profitable.
- Student of astronomy and Nautical Science
- Sponsored a third of Portuguese ventures before his death in 1460.
- Mixture of curiosity, knowledge, money, and religion motivate him.
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- Iberians set up a system of colonialism that would be seen for years to
come.
- Colonists set up large agricultural estates for cash crops to be sold
on European market.
- Introduced sugar, then cotton and tobacco
- Used slave labor from Northwest Africa
- Sound familiar?
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- Important note: Changes elsewhere are happening simultaneously, but
unrelated to changes in Europe, Middle East, and Asia.
- Disunity in Aztec/Incan Empires, and overextension throughout the 1400s
caused weakened empires throughout the Americas
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- Polynesia: Expansion beyond the Society Islands (Tahiti, Samoa, and
Fiji).
- Migration to Hawaii, where Hawaiians and Polynesians mixed quickly.
Pigs were imported to Hawaii
- Set up regional kingdom structure that was highly warlike.
- Social caste system dominated life
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- Maori’s migrate from Polynesia south to New Zealand.
- Successful adaptation to colder environment.
- Tribal military leaders hold power
- Polynesia will be of the last places to be colonized by Europe later in
history.
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- Many changes, if not all, occur independently. Every change is
explainable, but their combination is accidental.
- Technology
- Roles of individuals
- Impact of political shifts
- Cultural movements
- Revolutions in commerce
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